Jan Jansson
1588-1664, Dutch publisher and printer
Johannes Janssonius Jr., more commonly known to us as Jan Jansson, was the son of the bookseller and publisher, Johannes Janssonius of Arnhem (ie. Janssonius, the Elder, or Jan Janszoon the Elder). The elder Janssonius of Arnhem acted as co-publisher, with Cornelis Claesz, of the early editions of cartographer and publisher, Jodocus Hondius ’ “Atlas Minor”.
More specifically, Hondius had bought the copperplates of Mercator’s “Atlas Sive Cosmographicae ...” at the auction of Gerard Mercator Jr.’s effects in 1604, which he hoped to use, with his own additions to produce a large atlas of his own. At the same time he also had the plates of the “Atlas ...” reduced in order to publish them in the “Atlas Minor” that first appeared in 1607. Cornelis Clasz and Johannes Janssonius of Arnhem (the elder Janssonius) were the publishers chosen for this ‘miniature’ endeavour.
The Janssonius connections with the great Hondius family were further copperfastened in 1612 when Jan Jansson (Janssonius Jr) married Jodocus Hondius' daughter Elisabeth, and he moved his place of business to Amsterdam.
Amsterdam at this time was one of the world's most important trading centres. It's stature as the base of the Dutch East India Company and as centre of the diamond trade, banking, craftsmanship and invention meant the city was the epicentre of the great intellectual and creative talents of seventeenth century Europe. It was no surprise then that the young Jansson wanted to be closer to the action as it were.
Janssonius’ “Atlas Novus” & “Atlas Maior”
By 1616, Jan Jansson had published his first maps of France and Italy and from then onwards his output was prodigious, although not always quite as good as those of his great contemporary rivals, the Blaeu family, but usually coming a very close second in both quantity and quality.
From about 1633 onwards, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Henricus Hondius, Janssonius’ name and imprint started appearing on the Mercator/Hondius “Atlas ...” After 1636 the name of the “Atlas ...” was changed to “Atlas Novus “with Janssonius being responsible, almost solely, for its publication. On the death of Henricus he took over the business.
The “Atlas Novus” was expanded by Janssonius over the years of its publication in an attempt to rival Blaeu’s “Atlas Maior” for size and quality. Janssonius’ “Atlas Novus” eventually expanded to comprise six volumes with a nautical atlas and an atlas of the ancient world included. The maps produced by Jansson were relatively similar in format to those of Blaeu, although a difference in style on close inspection is easily recognised.
The “Atlas Maior” eventually comprised some eleven volumes which included the Cellarius celestial volume. A revised reprint of Braun and Hogenberg’s “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”, adding a number of new plates but retaining many of the existing ones, was also published by Janssonius in 1657 and comprised eight volumes. He also published the German text edition of Petrus Bertius’ “Tabularum Geographicarum” and several editions of the “Accuratissima Orbis Antiqui Delineatio” amongst other volumes.
Janssonius’ Irish Maps
Jansson's Irish maps are scarce and consist of a map of Ireland, and a map of each of the provinces, Ulster, Leinster, Connaught and Munster. Unlike the Blaeu series on Ireland or indeed the earlier Mercator set, Jansson did not produce a map of Udrone, or Carlow.
After Jansson's death, the plates to many of the British maps, including the maps of Ireland were sold to Schenk and Valck, who republished them again as separate maps after minor reworkings, in 1683.
Image(s): Title page of Atlas Novus
